The Director of Industrial Relations is charged with responsibility for labor management, national negotiations, mechanization, safety and health for all divisions of the union, and the administration of the collective bargaining agreement.

There’s more to being a progressive union than achieving and enforcing a contract — and that’s where the Human Relations Department comes in. Our programs and benefits inspire members to participate in the union and give them a sense of inclusion, contribution, and ownership.

The Maintenance Craft is a diverse and complex division of the APWU. In addition to the three national officers who work at the union's headquarters in Washington, DC, representation is provided by nine Maintenance National Business Agents (NBAs) and three all-craft NBAs.

The Motor Vehicle Craft is composed of APWU members who transport mail and maintain postal vehicles, and includes MVS Clerks, who work in Vehicle Maintenance Facilities and in Transportation Departments in mail processing plants.

The Support Services Division represents APWU bargaining unit members at Information Technology/ Accounting Service Centers, Operating Services facilities, Mail Equipment Shops and Material Distribution Centers, as well as professional nurses employed by the Postal Service. The Division also includes APWU-represented workers who are employed in the private sector, including mail haul drivers and Mail Transport Equipment Service Center employees.

The Northeast Regional Coordinator is responsible for union activity in parts of New York and New Jersey, and Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

The Western Region Coordinator is responsible for the union's activities in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and American Samoa, Guam and Saipan.

The Deaf/Hard of Hearing Task Force is a forum for APWU members to address their unique problems and concerns in the workplace, union, and society. Established in 1988 by an amendment to the APWU National Constitution, its goals include: better communication, better representation; better training, a better workplace, a better union, and building friendship.

APWU POWER (Post Office Women for Equal Rights) is the women’s committee within the American Postal Workers Union. It unites women, with their special concerns, yet works within the framework of the national APWU organization.

The APWU National Postal Press Association (PPA) provides APWU communicators with a wide range of assistance, information, and educational programs concerning the publication of union newsletters and media.

The APWU was one of 55 unions who participated in the AFL-CIO’s 28th Constitutional Conven- tion in St. Louis, MO, from Oct. 22-25. The convention is held every four years, during which officers are elected and resolutions are passed that guide the largest vol- untary federation of national and international labor unions.

01/01/2018 - (This article first appeared in the January-February 2018 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine)

By Clerk Craft Directors

Millions of Americans utilize USPS on a daily basis, yet the public desire for a Postal Service that serves the common good is trumped by the financial wealth and political power of relatively few owners of large corporations that utilize the Postal Service for advertising purposes. Even though the large mailers receive huge discounts for their mailings, they want to decrease their institutional postage costs even further by reducing service to the American public and cutting the wages and benefits of postal workers.

01/01/2018 - Members of the Des Moines Area Local and the
Des Moines BMC Local picket in front of the downtown P&DC.

(This article first appeared in the January-February 2018 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine)

APWU members from coast-to-coast continue to fight against postal management’s cuts to jobs and resulting diminished service. Following the previously reported demonstrations by the Baltimore Francis “Stu” Filbey Area Local, the Charlotte Area Local (NC), and the Greater Seattle Area Local, in Massachusetts and Iowa APWU members hit the streets and spoke out to inform postal customers about how these cuts lead to slow mail processing, delayed delivery and poor customer service.

Arbitrator Das sides with union for arbitration victory

12/12/2017 - In an award issued December 8, 2017, Das found that the “End of Day” button – a function the Postal Service added into the Retail System Software (RSS) point-of-sale system allowing postmasters to enter and exit the system without fully closing out – did not satisfy the requirement in the Global Settlement Remedy Agreement that postmasters are allowed to perform bargaining unit work for only 15 hours per week, to be counted from the start to the “end of day.”

11/01/2017 - (This article first appeared in the November-December 2017 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine)

By Clerk Craft Directors

Any day now, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) will be making a decision on the postage price cap that will significantly affect service to the American people and possibly the wages, benefits, and working conditions of the Clerk Craft and other postal workers.

10/26/2017 - On October 18, APWU Boston Metro Area Local – along with other APWU members, allies and activists – took to the streets to demand management fill New England Area postal vacancies. Ignoring these vacancies leads to slow mail processing, delayed mail delivery, poor customer service and hinders dependable public service around New England.

10/19/2017 - Each year, Veterans' Day is celebrated on Nov. 11. For 2017, the holiday falls on a Saturday.

There has been some confusion about when the Postal Service will observe the holiday because it has a six “business” day week. For clarification, USPS Retail and Delivery will be closed on Saturday, November 11, 2017. It will be business as usual on Friday, November 10, 2017.